Catholic Practices in Transition: The Case of Mangaldan after the Postwar

Muyargas, Ma. Keanna V.BASS History-PsychologyCatholic Practices in Transition: The Case of Mangaldan after the PostwarReview of Related LiteraturePhilippines is a product of different colonial experiences. Part of which are the colonizers influences and contributions that make up the Philippine society in contemporary. Spanish colonization is the longest period where the Philippines became a colony and was under its governance which took more than three hundred (300) years before the Philippines freed form the grasp of the Spanish rule. The three centuries of Spains control to the Philippine islands brought modifications and changes to the native life of Filipinos with their aim of Gospel, Gold and Glory. The Spanish program in the Philippines envisaged a radical transformation of native Philippine society the Spaniards launched a sweeping social reform in the islands, a reform which was religious, political and economic in scope. [footnoteRef:1] [1: Phelan, John Leddy, Prebaptismal Instruction and the Administration of Baptism in the Philippines during Sixteenth Century in Studies in Philippine Church History ed. Gerald H. Anderson. (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1969), viii.]

Christianity became the biggest influence of the Spanish regime that even in contemporary, Philippines have the most number of Christians in Asia as presented by Kevin Fogg in his Demographics on Religion in Maritime Southeast Asia with more than eighty five (85) million Catholic Filipinos. The waning years of Spanish rule was followed by years of American and Japanese occupation. Along with the conquest of these foreign countries were the reforms in the Christian beliefs that paved way for the establishment of new Christian religion. Many of the new organizations were anti-Catholic bias which derives from their distant memory of the oppressive rule by the Spanish friars.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Elwood, Douglas J. Varieties of Christianity in the Philippines in Studies in Philippine Church History ed. Gerald H. Anderson. (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1969), 372.]

According to Professor Chester Hunt, in his Sociology in the Philippine Setting, suggested that in other countries religious divisions have made tolerance by a necessity, but here (Philippines) it can only be based on a type of brotherhood which combines loyalty to ones own church with a tolerance of those who are outside the fold of the major religious organization.[footnoteRef:3] The American Protestants did not encounter great difficulties to reconvert some Filipinos from Catholicism to Protestantism and then pursue untouched indigenous peoples for their first generation dose of Christianity.[footnoteRef:4] [3: Ibid., 366.] [4: Lapiz, Ed. Paano Maging Pilipininong Kristiyano: Becoming a Filipino Christian. (Makati City: Kaloob, 1997), 98.]

With the varieties of Christianity that have been established by Filipinos themselves like the Aglipayan Church which is founded by Gregorio Aglipay, Iglesia ni Cristo that was founded by Felix Manalo were small in number compared to the still growing population of the Catholics in the Philippines. The factor that facilitates the growth of the independent protestant movements according to Elwood is the newly found freedom at religious expression which is guaranteed by the Philippine constitution. Another factor was nationalism against which Christianity is sometimes to be a Western import superimposed on Philippine cultural patterns. An important indigenous factor according to Elwood is regionalism and the consequent development of churches in relative isolation (geographical, linguistic, and other cultural barriers). The social condition of poverty is also a factor in which the new members of the new Christian religion were attracted to some promise of other-worldly rewards compensates for their fate in this world.[footnoteRef:5] [5: Ibid., 371.]

The psychologist George Guthrie, he has observed that one of the dominant traits of the Filipinos is imitation; that explained the tendency of the Filipinos of being easily receptive uncritically of the American pattern of theology.[footnoteRef:6] It is also important to note that Filipino kinship has strong family ties and religion or a collective faith is a big factor in strengthening this unity among families in which it satisfies the psychological needs of an individual such as having a sense of belongingness and a support system. [6: Ibid.]

To understand Filipino people, it is important to understand the cultural values in Philippine society. Filipinos are very family-oriented; a person find security and fulfillment by keeping close family ties the basic trait of the Filipino is his orientation and identification with the sakop, an interpersonal, collective group that prevails over the individual, making loyalty to it a top priority. [footnoteRef:7] [7: Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 6.]

Added to this statement are a Christian concept of family and its mission of church to strengthen the family ties. The church, attempts to maintain a number of loyal Christians, by targeting the importance of family given a fact that Philippine society specifically the family sector is very much influential. The Christian family is seen not only as the core of society but also as the model or society in general. This model Christian family is based on Christian morals, firmly grounded in faith and ideally integrated into a charismatic community that supports its members in their endeavor to live up to the standards of Christian morals.[footnoteRef:8] [8: Cornelio, Jayeel. Institutional Religion and Modernity-in-Transition: Christianitys Innovations in the Philippines and Latin America. ]

Catholic Action must concern itself with the restoration of the family, source of natural life and divinely ordained institution, as the home where supernatural life of the children of God has its first growth.[footnoteRef:9] [9: De Torre, Joseph M. Social Morals: the Church Speaks on Society. Second Edition. (Manila: Southeast Asian Science Foundation, Inc. 1987), 67.]

Part of the social doctrine of the church is its role in helping the welfare of the families in terms of education and other aids its relation to common good. This could also be a factor in looking at how Catholicism still gain numerous of believers despite of the birth of the new varieties of Christian faith in which Catholics have the most number of population in the country. In reviewing materials in this topic, I have divided this into several themes that would support the substantive content in this study. The first theme is illustration of the pre-Hispanic religion and the practices along with it, capturing the traditional way of the Filipinos practice of religion and beliefs which can be said as animists/pagans way of expressing faith to numerous gods and deities of native Filipinos. In line with this, we could see the patterns in religion that were inculturated in the modern Christianity or Catholicism which is a product of a long transition of religious aspect of the Filipino Christians that would understand the Folk Catholicism in the Philippines. The second theme is mainly about the Christianization in the Philippines by Western colonizer; the Spain in particular. This would entail the process of conversion of the natives and the efforts of the missionaries in converting the Filipino non-Christians into a new way of religious belief which could be a help of understanding the cultural changes in Filipino religion. Under this theme, is the case of Pangasinan and Mangaldan in their experience of the missionaries attempts in introducing innovative way of religious practice and faith and how they respond to it? The third theme the theme that talked about the situation of the church after the Spanish regime (American period, Japanese Occupation and Postwar) in which it brought again waves of changes and birth of other Christian religion, and the role of the church during these period, how the people respond to it. The fourth theme is the nature of the Philippine church and development of the native clergy in which it talked about the situations in Philippine Christian or Catholic clergy in respect to the new religious groups and the participation of the people as catalyst of change in the way of catholic practices in the Philippines in which it is also a social development. Lastly, is the illustration of the changes in cultural way of expressing faith in Philippine context in contrast to the conservative Christianity that was brought by the Spanish colonizers and the inculturated culture of the Western into the native way of expressing religious belief that resulted to Folk Catholicism among the people and the changes in the culture of Catholic religion that goes along with it.

I. Pre-Hispanic Philippine ReligionBefore the arrival of the gospel in the Philippines during the 16th century, Filipinos were believed to be animists and pagan, wherein they have already the notion of supreme being which for the Tagalogs called it Bathala Maykapal (God the Creator), Laon for Visayans (Old Man or the Ancient) and the Ilocanos Cabunian.[footnoteRef:10]It was said that the Gods of the natives were neglectful of his creatures and therefore the Filipinos turned to their secondary deities just like in Rome and Greece mythologies. These deities could be god of the rocks, mountain, rainbow, reefs and other natural objects.[footnoteRef:11] [10: Fernandez, Pablo. History of the Church in the Philippines (1521-1898). (Manila: Navotas Press, 1979.)] [11: Colin, 64, col.1 (cited by Pablo Fernandez)]

The colonizers perceived the native Filipinos as barbaric and uncivilized as they do not possess the Western culture and much seen as brutal and practitioners of immoral acts, however, to oppose that, even before the intervention of the Westerners, Filipinos have already the notion of what is moral and not according to their belief and it is being sanctioned by a god. The Palawan people believed that people who commit unethical behavior like incest, and other major crimes were punished by the gods through natural destruction like flood, storm etc. A ceremony called panggaris, intended to cleanse the earth, is performed annually in a section of this ethnic group.[footnoteRef:12] The pre-hispanic religious belief of the natives are not concerned mostly for the ethics but more on maintaining life, prosperity, avoiding sickness through an exchange system with supernatural beings and these goals are achieved through various symbolic means, through rituals and ceremonies, offerings, sacrifices etc. rather than displaying a good behavior.[footnoteRef:13] [12: MacDonald Charles J-H. Folk Christianity and Pre-Spanish Religions in the Philippines in Philippine Studies Vol. 52, No.1 Global/Local (Ateneo de Manila Univ. Press, 2004), 80. ] [13: Ibid.,82.]

The ancient religious practice of Pangasinanes was not different form the majority of Filipinos which the gods and deities were worshiped for different purposes; Ama-Gaoley, the highest god or Apolaqui to whom they prayed to during their voyage, journey or any business were the main gods of Pangasinanes in which they also believe of the good spirit or the anitos.[footnoteRef:14] [14: Cortes, Rosario. Pangasinan: 1500-1801 (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1974)]

The description of Loarca to the Tagal people resembles to the present say Folk Christianity in which these people believe in a higher being like their supreme God or creator named Bathala and could only petitioned by intermediaries by lesser gods or spirits called anito or ancestors which are worshipped through forms of idol.[footnoteRef:15] [15: MacDonald Charles J-H. Folk Christianity and Pre-Spanish Religions in the Philippines in Philippine Studies Vol. 52, No.1 Global/Local (Ateneo de Manila Univ. Press, 2004), 84. ]

II. Christianization in the PhilippinesMission was defined by Gutstav Warneck, a Protestant of Muenster as all the activities of Christianity aimed at the planting and organization of the Christian Church among non-Christian.[footnoteRef:16] Europe which the population is largely Christians thought that outside its territories, there are small numbers of pagans. But this assumption was disturbed when theologians realized that Christians are only minority of the worlds population and in effect, the Council of Trent came up with the baptism of desire wherein the millions who never have heard of Christ through no fault of their own could be saved.[footnoteRef:17]Magellans was regarded as the first missionary at his arrival in Cebu that commenced the Catholic faith in the Philippines. Magellan, the navigator and merchant threw himself fervently into his new role as an apostle of gospel until he reached a state of spiritual intoxication which undermined his sound judgement of things mundane.[footnoteRef:18] Phelan also mentioned that it was Magellan who explained to the natives the principal beliefs of the Christian religion and not Friar Pedro de Valderrama. The language barrier affected the natives impression to the Christian religion which Enrique, who was Magellans slave-interpreter know Malay which the natives understood but was still inadequate to capture the totality of the Christian doctrine and the Spaniards sought to transcend the linguistic barrier in which the aim was to capture the imagination of the natives through the splendor of the new religions ritual.[footnoteRef:19] The prebaptismal instruction for adults were defined and the neophytes of the Christian religion were expected to leave and repent for their sins in their pagan practices such as the polygamy of marriage in which the marriage must be monogamous, natural and legitimate marriage according to the church doctrine, while the adult neophytes were expected to memorize different prayers and church doctrines such as the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, the Credo and the Ten Commandments, subsequently they imposed the principal obligation of Christian (i.e attendance at Mass every Sunday and feasts days, mandatory annual confession) were considered as desirable prebaptismal conditions.[footnoteRef:20] [16: Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.( Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 4.] [17: Ibid.] [18: Phelan, John Leddy, Prebaptismal Instruction and the Administration of Baptism in the Philippines during Sixteenth Century in Studies in Philippine Church History ed. Gerald H. Anderson. (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1969), 23.] [19: Ibid, 24.] [20: Ibid, 25.]

It was a relationship between the mission-sending countries and missionary countries. And as observed by Leonardo Mercado, the First World countries were the mission-sending countries and the Third World such as the Philippines the mission countries or the pagans. The local church was established when it was viewed that the Church was also a communion of different, unique communities. The people of God, as communion of local churches need the faith witness of missionaries from different local churches.[footnoteRef:21] [21: Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.( Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 11.]

A. PangasinanThe conquest and colonization of Luzon and pacification of Pangasinan was first attributed by Morga to Miguel Lopez de Legazpi but a later writer mentioned that it was Martin de Goiti. The first definite description of the conquest of Pangasinan cites Juan de Salcedo as the leader of the expedition. Salcedo was ordered by his grandfather to, Miguel de Legazpi to see northern Luzon, to explore that country and to pacify the people in it.[footnoteRef:22] Salcedo took risk in conquering Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Pangasinan with only forty five soldiers with him and sailed northwards along the Cape Bolinao and entered Lingayen. Salcedo together with his small band saw the Chinese vessel along with the captives of the chief and natives of Pangasinan, and therefore their troop attacked the Chinese and set the natives free, in result of this, he gained friendship and submission.[footnoteRef:23] In 1575, the Augustinian missionaries started the work of evangelization which they accompanied Salcedo. The mission started at Tobang in the vicinity of the present town of Labrador. The Pangasinanes as described by the missionaries were hostile and that their efforts in pacification were futile and therefore they moved to Lingayen. [22: Cortes, Rosario. Pangasinan: 1500-1801 (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1974)] [23: S.J. Bernad, Miguel. The Christianization of the Philippines: Problems and Perspectives (Manila: The Filipiniana Book Guild, 1972.)]

In 1576, Franciscan friars started their mission of pacification but they did not stayed long in the province, they withdrew in 1591. The hostility of the Pangasinanes according to towards the missionaries according to Cortes could be developed from the frequent forays upon them for tribute, particularly for gold. This unpleasant behavior of the soldiers discouraged the Pangasinanes to embrace and welcome the missionaries since they are all white and Spanish, and therefore distinction may be likely to be vague between the soldiers and the missionaries. Subsequently, the spreading of the rumor of the pagan priests that Fr. Bernardo was the father of the child of a native woman. Thus, such smart move of the pagan priests perceived the paralysis of the efforts of the Dominicans by indicting one of their numbers for an act which in Christian terms but not only by pagan standards was a violation of the moral order.[footnoteRef:24] The mutual efforts of the anacbanuas or the elites of Pangasinan successfully thwarted the missionaries that lead to the failures of the mission of pacification by the different wave of friars. However, this did not discourage the missionaries to pursue the pacification because it was impossible to neglect the size of the province and the large number of population, as well as the fact that Pangasinan was rich in gold.[footnoteRef:25] [24: Phelan, John Leddy, Prebaptismal Instruction and the Administration of Baptism in the Philippines during Sixteenth Century in Studies in Philippine Church History ed. Gerald H. Anderson. (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1969), 34.] [25: To the Spaniards, it was astonishing to see the amount of gold available to the natives the natives in general acquire, possess and trade great quantities of goldThere was gold in Mindanao, in many of the Visayan islands, in Mindoro, and in many areas of Luzon (Paracale, Pangasinan, and the Ilocos among others)( S.J. Bernad, Miguel, p.146)]

Bishop Domingo Salazar sent another new missionary to the area with the arrival of the Dominican friars in July 1587, the main direction of their missionary work was towards the north, in province of Pangasinan and the Cagayan Valley.[footnoteRef:26] Binalatongan was the headquarters of the friars and the Dominicans spread out to other settlements, particularly to Gabon (Calasiao) and in Mangaldan.[footnoteRef:27] The efforts of the friars took three years to finally convert the Pangasinanes in Central Pangasinan with the new religion. There were statement that the natives of Pangasinan took actions of protest in thwarting the friars, they did not gave them food or refuse to sell them any goods. In September 1587, five Dominicans led by Friar Bernardo de Santo Catalina arrived, local encomendero built them a house, as the law required. The natives refuse to supply them with food, water, fish or rice, and after the three years of residence, the only result was the baptism of a few children. [footnoteRef:28] [26: S.J., Bernad Miguel A. The Christianization of the Philippines: Problems and Perspectives. (Manila: The Filipiniana Book Guild, 1972.)] [27: In 1750, there were at least nineteen Dominican establishments in Pangasinan which included also the territory now comprised in the province of Tarlac. They were: Anguio, Baruc,Binalatongan, Binmaley, Calasiao, Camiling, Cavili, Dagupan, Ipantol, Lingayen, Malanguey, Malasiqui, Mangaladan, Manaoag, Panglanguit, Paniqui, Salasa, Sinapog and Telban. (S.J. Bernad, Miguel, p.235)] [28: Phelan, John Leddy, Prebaptismal Instruction and the Administration of Baptism in the Philippines during Sixteenth Century in Studies in Philippine Church History ed. Gerald H. Anderson. (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1969), 34.]

According to Cortes, the reasons that drew the natives to missionaries were their effort in learning the language[footnoteRef:29], their knowledge of medicine since the Pangasinanes were associated with Pagan practice and therefore their cure to the illness was to send the evil spirits away, and was greatly impressed at how the friars possessed the healing power. Another said reason to the overcoming of the distrust of the natives reflected to the statement of the chieftain in the province when he asked to be baptized since he saw the efforts of the Dominican friars for three years and the unity that they follow one rule or path and do not procure gold or silver, thus, this chieftain was well-convinced to the genuine motives of the friars to do them good and was persuaded that men of that manner do not lie and therefore his followers became Christian as well.[footnoteRef:30] [29: Not only the literary forms, but the native languages themselves manifested a considerable degree of mental development and sophistication. In this matter of languages, the missionaries had their various preferences depending on which native language they come to know best The Dominicansin particular Lorenzo Fernandez Cosgaya, Pedro Villanueva and Mariano Pellicerwould have chosen Pangasinan. S.J. Bernad, Miguel (The Christianization of the Philippines: Problems and Perspectives. (Manila: The Filipiniana Book Guild, 1972.), p.152] [30: Cortes, Rosario. Pangasinan: 1500-1801 (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1974), 73.]

B. MangaldanThe town Mangaldan lies on a plain terrain in the northern part of Pangasinan, about two miles from the Lingayen Gulf, it is bounded on the north of the said Gulf and the town of San Fabian, on the South by Mapandan and Santa Barbara, on the east by San Jacinto and on the West by Dagupan. The people of Mangaldan speak mainly the Pangasinan language.[footnoteRef:31] There are three versions of how the name of town got his its name. The first version narrates that one day a Spanish missionary asked one of the inhabitants the name of the place and the inhabitant thought the missionary was asking ofr water and therefore he replied Manga-alay Adan which means Adan is fetching. The second version stated that it got its town name form the first native chief of Mangaldan which is Babaldan. The third version says that in the middle of the plaza stood a big mango tree laden with fruits and it was customary that anyone of the towns inhabitants was free to gather the fruits but it resulted to quarreling among themselves. And the meaning of quarrel in the Pangasinan language is Man-nga-ngal-ngalan.[footnoteRef:32] [31: Magno, Rafael. Mangaldan 1600-1898 (Dagupan: Maramba Press), 2.] [32: Cfr. Quinto, Juan A. A Brief History of Mangaldan and the Central Life of its People Published in the provincial Elementray Schools Meet Program, December 9-10, 1955. Cited by Rafael Magno in Mangaldan 1600-1898 (Dagupan: Maramba Press), 2.]

For Magno, this is quite unreliable, in Fr. Raymundo Suarez, O.P in his 108-year old manuscript entitled Apuntos Curiosos Sobre Las Pueblos de Pangasinn stated that the etymology of the town is from the root word Alar or in other Pangasinanes would pronounce this as Alad, the meaning of Alar or Alad in Pangasinan is palisade or simply a fence made of bamboo or any similar material which is interposed between Mang and An therefore it is Mangaladan. However, it was syncopated by suppressing the penultimate A and therefore it remained alone as Mangaldan.[footnoteRef:33] [33: Archivo de los Padres Dominicos. MSS Seccin PANGASINAN. Tomo VII, Documento 15a. Apuntos Curiosos Sobre los Pueblos de Pangasinn, Pueblo de Magaldan. por el P. Raymundo Suarez OP (1860). Cited by Magno, Rafael. Mangaldan 1600-1898 (Dagupan: Maramba Press), 5.]

Mangaldan as a small village before it became a parish was no different from other provinces in opposing the new religion being presented by the missionaries with the aim of spreading the gospel. As Fr. Pedro tercer Soto[footnoteRef:34] described the Mangaldanes during his first year of activity in Mangaldanes as the early inhabitants of Mangaldan were the most difficult to convert.[footnoteRef:35] At the time of Fr. Soto, the apostle of Mangaldan, first arrived in 1590, described the settlement a being without polity, nor order or regularity of life. [footnoteRef:36] It was further described as the village being the most obstinate of all the villages in their errors, refused to admit fathers of Augustinians, listen to secular priest who was assigned to them and yet these were the Indians that Fr. Soto came to conquer with patience and Christian charity.[footnoteRef:37] Casipit, who is a haciendero and a leader to the town wherein his house served as the temple of the natives where they perform their cult, strongly opposed to the new religion that he even had a record of killing a Franciscan friar that he happened to meet. In addition to his strong opposition, he negotiated to the authorities in Manila to send away the Dominican friars and even offered half of his big hacienda to the encomendero.[footnoteRef:38] The Dominican Bishop and Historian Fr. Diego Aduarte declared that Mangaldanes more than any people in Pangasinan were slaves of superstitious beliefs. [34: An accomplished missionary, he excelled especially in Theology and letters and was once a student of the great Archbishop Miguel de Benavides. He was a native of the Burgos Spain, studied on the Dominican convent of San Pablo de Vallodolid. Arriving with first group of Dominicans in 1587, he was among the six pioneer Dominicans sent to Pangasinan by Fr. Juan de Castro. Assigned first as an assistant in Calasiao, he later became the vicar in the same parish in 1592. Magno, Rafael. Mangaldan 1600-1898 (Dagupan: Maramba Press), 14-15] [35: Cfr. Gonzales, Jose Ma., O.P., op. cit.,p.53 (cited by Magno, Rafael)] [36: B. and R., op. cit. (cited by Rosario Cortes)] [37: Account of the Encomiendas in the Philippines, May 31, 1591. Appended to Letter of Dasmarias to the King, Manila, June 20, 1591, B and R., VIII 104-05. (cited by Rosario Cortes).] [38: Magno, Rafael. A Historical Retrsopect to the Town of Magaldan, Pangasinan (1600-1898.)]

Casipit, who was mentioned earlier of his strong opposition paved way to the number of converts in Mangaldan in which it was accredited to Fr. Soto that Casipit became a devout Christian that "propagated the faith in which he once tried to destroy[footnoteRef:39]. Mangaldan was before a visita to Gabon (the present Calasiao) and the third missionary site town in Pangasinan after the Binalatongan and Calasiao to finally embrace Christianity from the hands of the Dominican missionaries. Mangaldan was established as a parish on June 2, 1600 under the patronage of St. Thomas Aquinas, with their first parish priest Fr. Pedro de Ledesma with his assistant Fr. Thomas Castellar[footnoteRef:40]. [39: Ibid.] [40: De la Torre, Visitacion. Faith Enshrined: Churches of Pangasinan. (Manila, 1997.)]

With the collective effort of the Dominicans in introducing the new religion, the Mangaldanes became receptive of the new faith that brought changes in the social aspect of the lives of the Mangaldanes after it became a parish. More than the spiritual contribution of the missionaries, they also helped the people in every area of human life. The activities they are tasked to do were not confined in catechism alone, but it includes the building of the town and reorganization of the native society. They erected and repaired its church and convent, built tribunal and schools, constructed and improved roads and streets, and provided irrigation system which helped enormously on the economic life of Mangaldan.[footnoteRef:41] In the year 1600 was a historic year for the Mangaldanes for it marks the birth of the town as a new vicariate in the province. The increase of the number of the converts in Mangaldan and population reflected the growth of the town. Christian religion indeed played a vital role in modifying the pre-Hispanic cultural aspect of Pangasinan and Mangaldan especially in the religious/ ritual practices. [41: Magno, Rafael. Mangaldan 1600-1898 (Dagupan: Maramba Press), 94.]

III. Philippine Church in transition after Spanish periodA. Situation of the Church during American Period The religious of these islands can be divided into two classes, namely: the religious of Spanish origin, and all others. The latter, though they take their origin from various nations, for the most part speak English. These two classes however are separated, not only by language but by customs, traditions, culture, political views, missionary methods [footnoteRef:42] [42: Schumacher, John N. A Hispanized Clergy in Americanized Country (1910-70) in Chapters in Philippine Church History. Edited by Kwantes, Anne C. (Manila: OMF Literature Inc., 2001), 254.]

The anti-clerical sentiment grew in the Philippines after the Revolution in 1898. In the early 20th century, the Catholic Church was characterized by defensiveness and alienation and albeit it is still Spanish-oriented, it was gradually moving towards American-orientation. The Masonic movement, with its strong anti-Catholic bias, influenced many political leaders as well as educators in the University of the Philippines.[footnoteRef:43] Mirroring the efforts of the wave of missionaries that propagated the Christian religion, the American Jesuits from the province of Maryland-New York came to Philippines to replace the Spanish Jesuits who were sent to India. The general thinking of missionaries was the mission must follow conquest in order to promote the welfare of the colonized. Arthur Brown reasoned that, since the Roman Catholic Church failed to produce character in the Filipino and that neither civil law nor public school could build such character, the only ones that could do so were Protestant missionaries.[footnoteRef:44] [43: Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 17.] [44: Bautista, Lorenzo. Perceptions of Early Protestant Missionaries in Chapters in Philippine Church History. Edited by Kwantes, Anne C. (Manila: OMF Literature Inc., 2001),143.]

There were also sources that mentioned the opposition of the American government to the rampant Filipino folk Catholicism that are obviously displayed. Even during the early 1900s, some places in Visayas like in Panay continue to practice the native ways in religion like the sacrifice of pigs, frothing spasms of the babailanes (primitive soothsayers and witch doctors both men and women) have never entirely ceased, the belief of charms called anting-anting, and consisting perhaps of a breastplate cotton cloth painted with fantastic designs (in which the cross, the name of Virgin etc. may be mingled with hieroglyphics with no meaning at all), has always survived, was fully exploited during the late wars and plays its part today in inspiring terror and respect for bandit-chiefs said to be invulnerable to the bullets of the Government soldiers.[footnoteRef:45] There when personages were made to pose as God or Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary were herded by the American police and confine in a American military prison, also the Filipinos who are expressing their religious faith over the relics and giving their savings for miracle-working objects to the impostors who exploited this character had to be broken up by the police.[footnoteRef:46] [45: Le Roy, James. Philippine Circa 1900: Philippine Life in Town and Country. (Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1968), 74.] [46: Ibid.,73]

By then, the American Jesuits transformed the Church from a Hispanized culture of the church to a more Americanized orientation in which it was greatly influenced by American language and culture. The efforts of the Jesuits in education, research, ad scholarship, retreats, social involvement, and mission work gave vitality to the churchs apostolic activity and helped move her (church) out of alienated situation.[footnoteRef:47] These changes in the church were revealed during the 1925 first National Congress of Catholic Action which was held in Manila. [47: Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 17.]

The American Episcopalian Church missionaries played a role in the aspect of Christianity among the Filipinos whereby, the Americans had the initiative to put up a native clergy that became part of the imperialist rule of the Americans and the contribution of the people to the missionary endeavor and to the development of the Filipino Christianity. the Philippines has become the only Asian nation, a majority of whose people are Christian. It concentrates on two styles of missionary work that of translating Christian belief for the indigenous people, both literally through work on local languages and the translation of parts of the Bible, and culturally through close interaction with local people; and that of civilising indigenous people according to the assumptions of Americans who believed that Christianity was part of a cultural, economic and political package which they had a duty to share in the context of imperial rule.[footnoteRef:48] [48: Arun W. Jones. Christian missions in the American empire. Episcopalians in northern Luzon, the Philippines,19021946(Studies in the Intercultural History of Christianity, 132.) in Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 55, No. 3, July 2004. (United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2004)]

B. Japanese OccupationThe occupation army took advantage of the church as a social institution in order to make the occupation effective and efficient, there were twelve protestant ministers and fourteen Japanese Roman Catholics that were sent in the Philippines beginning December1941under the auspices of Japanese Imperial Army, and they were part in propaganda acivities with the support of Japanese protestant church. [footnoteRef:49] [49: Kazuo Wakai. Protestants in the Japanese Imperial Army in the Philippines (Decemeber 1941-1942) in Chapters in Philippine Church History. Edited by Kwantes, Anne C. (Manila: OMF Literature Inc., 2001), 291.]

The involvement of the church in social arena was not that active compared to the American period prior to WWII in which it was not involved in the labor and rural problems. However, after the World War, Fr. Walter Hogan, S.J., started the Institution of Social Order (ISO) in which it is an effort to apply the social doctrine of the church to the social order which in turn, the church personnel became active in social action field. In the succeeding years, there were different unions that were established which are agent for the higlight of the role of church in social field and which are based on social teachings of the church. The Apostolic Delegate established the Catholic Welfare Organization (CWO) in February 1945 to coordinate to reach out and relief efforts in war-stricken areas. This was passed to Bishops of the Philippines who adpoted the CWO as their official organization. This organization became permanent and its purpose was to promote the apostolate of the Church in the Philippines and participate to the different activities of the Catholics to the needs of the times.[footnoteRef:50] [50: Catholic Welfare Organization The Catholic Directory (Manila: Catholic Trade School), 643. Cited by Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 20. ]

The military government during this period could not deny the great influence of religion and church in the people, an they see this as enemy religion and therefore for the sake of winning the Christian Filipinos over to Japans side, they established the Religious Section in which it was headed by Lt. Col. Narusawa Tomonori whose wife is a Roman Catholic believer .[footnoteRef:51] The fruit of labor of the people behind the Religious Section was the good impression by the Filipinos. They protected the lives of the people, secured freedom of religion, helped in the release of some missionaries, assisted in the rehabilitation work and simply served the people.[footnoteRef:52] [51: Kazuo Wakai. Protestants in the Japanese Imperial Army in the Philippines (Decemeber 1941-1942) in Chapters in Philippine Church History. Edited by Kwantes, Anne C. (Manila: OMF Literature Inc., 2001), 295.] [52: Kazuo Wakai. Protestants in the Japanese Imperial Army in the Philippines (Decemeber 1941-1942) in Chapters in Philippine Church History. Edited by Kwantes, Anne C. (Manila: OMF Literature Inc., 2001), 331.]

C. PostwarIt was stated earlier that the church became active for social works by establishing different union which promotes the common good just like in 1953, Atty. Jeremias Montemayor and Fernando Esguerra organized the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), which is a farmers organization inspired by the social teachings of the church. In 1965, the involvement of the church in the social mission became intensified by the arrival of the 32 priests from the Priestss Institute for Social Action (PISA) which was held in Hong Kong. They resolved to promote the social action in the form of self-help projects, community development and cooperatives. if they are selfish, their faith weakens, this is the law of charity. Generosity makes the local church stronger and more authentically Christian.[footnoteRef:53] [53: Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.( Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 11.]

In the period before martial law, however, there many different movements and activities in the Philippines and many Church personnel were involved especially in the efforts to organize and empower the people.[footnoteRef:54] The integral evangelization was promoted which it include the promotion of human development and liberation as an integral part. This gave emphasis to the efforts of the church in forming peoples organization (which could be by community or sectorally e.g farmers, urban, poor, etc.) to counter-balance the established power who are favored socio-economically and politically speaking. [54: Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 24.]

to labor vigorously so that by human labor, technical skill and civic culture created goods may be perfected for the benefit of ever last man. And to work, to see that created goods are more fittingly distributed among men, and such goods in their own way lead to general progress in human and Christian liberty.[footnoteRef:55] [55: De Torre, Joseph M. Social Morals: the Church Speaks on Society. Second Edition. (Manila: Southeast Asian Science Foundation, Inc. 1987), 2.]

Catholicism brought many ideas like the sacraments, confessions, penance, the idea of original sin, and the idea of salvation. Christianity brought religious codes of ethics.[footnoteRef:56] [56: Ibid.]

IV. The Philippine church and the development of the Filipino clergy

We must acknowledge that for not a few of our countrymen Christianity has been and perhaps still is a social fact more than a personal conviction, and the Church institution only rather community.[footnoteRef:57] Rev. Giordano stated that even the church has been established in the Philippines for more than 400 years, it still can be perceived as a missionary church because of the inadequate number of the Filipino priests and others were foreigners in filling the inadequate population of the priests and other religious leaders in spreading the good news in ratio to the Filipino Catholics. In rural and urban area, it is uncommon to have a one or two priests that facilitate the evangelization of more than fifty thousand (50,000) populations of Catholics. In result, he asserted that the evangelization becomes superficial. According to Rev. Giordano, the reason why the church has failed to evangelize more effectively has been because of the lack of the native clergy and thus could be traced to history of evangelization of the country wherein the Spaniards discouraged the development of the native clergy in the Philippines, mostly for political reasons. Being part of the leaders in church held a big responsibility and power at hand and Spaniards do not want the natives to relinquish that authoritative control from them. The dispositions of the religious orders to hold firmly to the control of the territory to which they regarded themselves as having won for Spain, and in the virtual possession of which they displayed considerable rivalry of pride, was always manifested whenever they thought this control was threatened in any way.[footnoteRef:58] In fact, in the revolution of 1898, one of its targets is the church with the issue its accumulation of vast lands, corruption and other abuses and injustices that resulted to anti-clerical of the Propaganda Movement. [57: CBCP, Evangelization and Development, Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas. September 1973, 527. cited by Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 12.] [58: Le Roy, James. Philippine Circa 1900: Philippine Life in Town and Country. (Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1968), 68.]

One of the factor that lead to superficial evangelization of the church is the period where many Filipino priests were hastily ordained with little or no preparation, other with poor moral, spiritual and intellectual qualities and it was Archbishop Basilio Sancho de Sta. Justa y Rufina (1767-1787) who took parishes away from the religious friars and ordained the Filipino priests after he became an Archbishop of Manila.[footnoteRef:59] This was characterized by John Schumacher, S.J., and Horatio de la Costa, S.J., Philippine Church Historians as one of sheer disaster for the secular clergy which lasted from 1768 to 1850s and according to Fr. Schumacher; this was until the coming of the Paules Fathers (The Vincentians) to take over the missionaries. [footnoteRef:60] [59: Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 15.] [60: Horacio de la Costa, S.J., The Development of the Native Clergy, pp. 47-56; and John Schumacher, S.J., The Filipino Secular Clergy: Yesterday and Tomorrow, pp.87-91, in de la Costa and Schumacher, The Filipino Clergy. Ibid., 14.]

The Filipino clergy were not given their own parishes but they served as assistant for the Spanish friars. A well-educated priest like Fr. Pedro Pelaez who obtained a doctorate in theology from University of Santo Tomas became only the assistant of the Spanish friars and later on became the leader of the Filipino secular clergy[footnoteRef:61]. This is one of the reasons to the uprising of Filipino priests during the Philippine revolution like Aglipay who acted as chaplains of the revolutionary army. After the war, Fr. Aglipay formed the Iglesia Filipina Independiente when the Vatican wont recognize the petition of the nationalist priests that the Church positions must be occupied by Filipino priests. However, this did not still outnumber the population of the Catholics in which Aglipayan Church only consist 4 percent of the population. [footnoteRef:62] [61: Ibid., 15.] [62: Ibid., 15.]

The church as an institution can be seen as a community that attempts to unite all the followers of the Christian faith through the religious practices and divine teachings of God. God who has fatherly concern for everyone, has willed that all men should constitute one family and treat one another in a spirit of brotherhood. For having been created in the image of God, who from one man who has created the whole human race and made them live all over the face of the earth(Acts 17:26), all men are called to one and the same goal, namely, God Himself.[footnoteRef:63] [63: De Torre, Joseph M. Social Morals: the Church Speaks on Society. Second Edition. (Manila: Southeast Asian Science Foundation, Inc. 1987), 34.]

During the visit Pope John Paul II in February 1981, he also emphasized the importance of the bond and love among members and conscious participation of all members. The Puebla Conference asserted that Church must be a sign of communion.[footnoteRef:64] [64: Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 8.]

The Philippine church can be seen as changing in a context of a developing society. The changes in the practices in the church are brought by response to the ever-changing society.

V. Culture and Church Customs in Philippine SettingA typical evangelical Christian worship service with its rigid structure, formality and stiffness is culturally very unFilipino in order to be more appealing and more responsive to Filipino soul, the Christian church should be more Filipino in flavor and form.[footnoteRef:65] [65: Lapiz, Ed. Paano Maging Pilipininong Kristiyano: Becoming a Filipino Christian. (Makati City: Kaloob, 1997), 122.]

Given the fact that majority of the Filipinos are Christian Roman Catholic, it could apparently be observed that the culture and customs of this religion is infiltrating the lives of the people in everyday lives. The folk Christianity surfaced in the doctrine rules of Catholicism and Christianity among the Pangasinanes even in contemporary which a concrete example is the veneration of local patron saint. It is generally accepted that what was practiced by Christian natives was a kind of folk Christianity that has blended significant elements of their ancient practices into the new religion.[footnoteRef:66] Part of evangelization is building up of a truly local church according to the statement of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) in Taipei in 1974 and it is important to note its emphasis on the churchs connection to the locals culture, dialogue with local culture means that Christianity has to respect the local culture.[footnoteRef:67] In fact, the Western missionaries have failed to taken account the local culture and practices and imposed a Westernized form of Christianity. As Pope Joh Paul II said: [66: Cortes, Rosario. Pangasinan: 1500-1801 (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1974), 75.] [67: Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.( Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 14.]

the synthesis between culture and faith is not just a demand of culture but also faith. A faith which does not become culture is a faith which has not yet been fully received, not thouroughly thought through, not fully lived outTherefore unremitting effort of inculturation must be pursued in order that faith may not remain superficial.[footnoteRef:68] [68: LOsservatore Romano, 9 September 1985. Cited by Mercado, Leonardo, N. in Inculturation and Filipino Theology.(Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 14.]

A noted psychologist and also a religious leader by the name of Rev. Jaime Bulatao characterized this situation as split-level Christianity in which he explained this as two value systems present in the individual at the same time: one Christian and the other is his own way of believing, which was passed from generations after generations. There can also be a permeating popular religiosity in the country in which in a Catholics Bishop Conference, they admitted that these religious rituals which are unrelated to everyday life added to the invitation and deepening of a more authentic religious consciousness, needing to be purified, interiorized, made more mature and brought to bear on everyday life.[footnoteRef:69] [69: Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 13.]

Inculturation may be defined as the process by which there comes about an ongoing integration of the Christian experience of a local church into the culture of its people in which the church becomes part of the culture of the people.[footnoteRef:70] According to Pieris, the term inculturation is based on the culture-religion dichotomy of the Latins (which often means) the insertion of the non-Christian religion minus the European culture into an Asian culture minus non-Christian religion.[footnoteRef:71] According to Leonardo Mercado, there are different phases of inculturation; one is personnel and another level is the exterior or dress, example is that church or chapel may use a nipa hut theme and other indigenous materials, another foreign element of Christianity is American-style formality in which churchgoers are expected to come in their Sunday best attire which it is a type of clothing wearing closed necks, cuffed long sleeves, billowing skirts, shoes etc.[footnoteRef:72] But according to him, the most significant is the inculturation of thinking in which it includes the inculturating philosophy, using of native language which in turn, the philosophizing the ideas in native language can lead to new interpretation. Pope John Paul II defines inculturation as the intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in Christianity and insertion of Christianity in various human cultures.[footnoteRef:73] [70: Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.( Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 23.] [71: Pieris, Aloysius. An Asian Theology of Liberation. (Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 1988), 52., Ibid., 23.] [72: Lapiz, Ed. Paano Maging Pilipinong Kristiyano: Becoming a Filipino Christian. (Makati City: Kaloob, 1997), 128.] [73: Redemptoris, Missio no. 63. Cited by Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.( Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 24]

A British observer of conditions in the East Indies expressed the opinion that in spite of all the disadvantages of tolerance, bigotry, and oppression in the Philippines, the Christian religion may yet have exercised some advantageous influence upon its converts. The natives of the Philippines, he claimed possessed a share of energy and intelligence not only superior to their pagan and Mohamedan brethren but also to all the inhabitants of the West of the archipelago.[footnoteRef:74] As Christianity left a deep imprint in the cultural aspect of Filipinos, it nevertheless totally replaced the ancient practices, the indigenous culture are deeply rooted that natives still have the mechanism to accept and reject whatever they seem is appropriate in injecting the new influence in their current society. These type of defense mechanism as Cortes referred to Phelan, it enabled Filipinos to absorb new cultural influences without losing his own identity and these characteristics enabled to survive the shock of the conquest with far less psychological and material damage to himself than other native races similarly conquered.[footnoteRef:75] [74: Cortes, Rosario. Pangasinan: 1500-1801 (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1974), 75.] [75: Phelan op.cit., 26. Cf Corpuz, op.cit., 5-6 (cited by Rosario Cortes)]

The notion of inculturation could be attributed to the state of culture in the church in Philippine setting. There were two types of inculturation according to Mercado, the official and non-official inculturation. By official inculturation, it means that the custom, tradition or the belief was approved by Rome, while the unofficial inculturation is what the people do without the mandate of the Rome such as popular devotion.[footnoteRef:76] The people itself are the inculturators in which inculturation is the result of the interaction between the experts and the people. Church leaders could also be agents of inculturation in which they are exposed to foreign or western type of Christianity and at the same time their own native culture. [76: Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.(Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 26.]

The native way of feasting was modified in such a way that these social practices were turned into milder form of entertainment and expression of faith through celebration and feasts as Filipinos were fond of celebrations and feasts. For many of the faithful, their involvement in the church is limited to participation in fiestas, processions, liturgical celebrations, novenas and popular devotions.[footnoteRef:77] The transition of Christian way of expressing faith in Philippines can be said as non-official form of inculturation. This non-official inculturation of the church is a form of culture change wherein when there is something foreign is introduced, the item is either rejected or modified before it becomes part of the culture.[footnoteRef:78] The culture of Catholicism in Philippine context can be seen as bizarre for the Western way of Catholicism. The funeral in the Philippines are said to be more of a social way of grieving wherein there will be gambling, and drink during the wake as they keep vigil. These activities are meant for the people to be awake to take turns in watching for the coffin and the money goes to the bereaved family. The belief was, the corpse must not be left alone for fear that the witches and creatures of the underworld will steal and eat the entrails of the corpse.[footnoteRef:79] Feasts were held in honor of the town or parish patron saint. Filipinos were fond of saints especially in domestic setting wherein there were majorities who own numerous saints in their altar. These saints served like as the other gods in the pre-hispanic religion of the Filipino. [77: Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 13.] [78: Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.(Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 26.] [79: Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.(Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 21.]

A person may pray to the Almighty directly but his chances of getting what he wants are slim. Thus saints are called upon or asked to intercede for the people with the Higher Divinity for the recovery of lost things, good health, safe voyage, good harvest, long life, and so on. There are images of different saints in almost all Catholic houses in the rural areas. Most of these imagell are made of wood. This preference for wood is borne by the belief that, according to old folks in Panay, Central Philippines, wooden saints can hear better than those made of stone, marble, or plaster of Paris. The images, it must be remembered, can only have power to intercede for the people with God after these have been blessed with Holy Water by the parish priest.[footnoteRef:80] [80: Jocano, Landa F. Filipino Catholicism: A Case Study in Religious Change, 47. ]

Processions were still practiced in which Flores de Mayo is annually celebrated every May is a popular procession for the devotees of Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast of Black Nazarene in Quiapo is one of the most anticipated processions every year for it is believed that the relic of Black Nazarene is miraculous that in result, thousands of people participate in this procession that lasts for a day. There are also celebrated based on the liturgical calendar of the church for example Christmas starts early in Philippines and one of the awaited practice every Christmas is the nine-day mass of Misa de Gallo before the 25th of December, the Advent supposed to be a somber preparation for Christmas but for Filipinos, the whole Advent is already Christmas and the decorations were still retained until the Feast of the Epiphany but after the 25th of December the ordinary greeting could be heard is more of Happy New Year than Merry Christmas.[footnoteRef:81] Holy Week commemorates the sufferings or the Passion of Christ in redeeming the sinners, part of this practice is the Visita Iglesia or the visiting of different churches in completion of the Station of the Cross (which shortly narrates the chronological events in the sufferings of Christ). During holy week, a Filipino may carry a large wooden cross or whip his back in penance for sin. "These are harmless forms of expressing an individual's religious convictions, of doing his penance, and are therefore permitted."[footnoteRef:82]On the ninth day of January, crowds in Manila jostle with one another, and get hurt in the process - just to see and touch the image of the Nazarene. On Good Friday, cities and towns have huge processions. Statues of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the apostles, scenes of the crucifixion, and a glass coffin with the Christ are paraded through the streets.[footnoteRef:83]A spiritual ritual still on Holy Week, is the reading of the Passion, Pabasa ng Pasiyon which is either chanted or sung. The Eater Sunday which commemorates the resurrection of Christ was celebrated after Holy Week, in which the Salubong; the encounter of Mary to his risen son has been reenacted, albeit in contemporary, Easter Sunday was much of a Western concept and the solemnity were diminishing. The visiting of tombs of the loved ones where families were gathered in cemeteries to remember the departed ones every 1st of November in All Saints Day is very much practice in contemporary. There are three popular novenas in Manila such as the novena for Black Nazarene in Quiapo church, the novena to St. Jude and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baclaran Church where the devotees asks for special favor. These practices are for many of the Catholics are beautiful and meaningful but for some, it is an extension of their involvement in the life of the church.[footnoteRef:84] [81: Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.(Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992), 26.] [82: Jocano, Landa F. Filipino Catholicism: A Case Study in Religious Change, 60.] [83: Rev. Tangelder. The Winds of Change in Roman Catholic Church.] [84: Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988), 13.]

These could be a manifestation of syncretized culture of the Western and Filipino way of expressing religion. The active involvement of the people and usage of things that would highlight their belief intensified the interest of the Filipinos in being part of Catholic believers including the usage of the ointments, rituals using (holy) water, elicits much interest to the Filipinos.[footnoteRef:85] Religious transformation and mixing of various elements in Philippine folk Catholicism, in essence did fit the pattern of transformative continuity[footnoteRef:86] and the elements that were pre-Christian and similar in the structure to the new religion were the basis for a Filipinization of Catholicism, as much or even more than a simple survival of peripheral and heretical elements.[footnoteRef:87] [85: MacDonald Charles J-H. Folk Christianity and Pre-Spanish Religions in the Philippines in Philippine Studies Vol. 52, No.1 Global/Local (Ateneo de Manila Univ. Press, 2004), 82. ] [86: It refers to using the same belief structure within a new framework or by simply transposing a preexisting structure into a new idiom. (MacDonald, 2004, 83)] [87: MacDonald Charles J-H. Folk Christianity and Pre-Spanish Religions in the Philippines in Philippine Studies Vol. 52, No.1 Global/Local (Ateneo de Manila Univ. Press, 2004), 84.]

VI. ConclusionIn conclusion, it is inevitable for a culture to be moving towards change and modification, for in every culture it never remains static. Culture is ever changing as a response to the alterations in the peoples way of life and behavior that are products of the long history, and these changes manifest in the religious practices of Christian believers. The question of why the catholic believers were still among the majority of the population despite of the nationalist attempts of the Filipino founders of different Christian religion and the waves of modifications brought by the pacification of different Western and Asian colonizers is a gap to be considered. It is also interesting to note that among all the Southeast Asian nations, the Philippines was the most Western in terms of religion; why the Philippines did not became followers of Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism that is more of an Asian religion in the Southeast Asia? Is the catholic doctrines were the reason for the loyalty of the people in the church? Or the cultural practices that comes with it? I would like to study the transformation of the religious practices and culture of the church in the case of Mangaldan and how it was changed. What are the factors that come along with these cultural changes? It is also a gap to consider the situation of the clergy of Mangaldan during the succeeding years after the 1989, since Fr. Magno only talked about the transition of the evangelization of Mangaldan only in the year 1600-1898. I would like to see the practices that are still being practices and what are not? And the reasons behind the vanished cultural practice in the Catholic religion or why did it remain?Religious practices may be a manifestation of how people think and behave that would seemingly mirror their way of strengthening their faith. In an attempt to understand further the hows and whys of Catholic practices, it is important to consider the aid of the other disciplines in social sciences like Anthropolgy, Sociology and Psychology to further grasp the condition of the peoples response and their adapting nature to these cultural changes and how it transform their cognition and behavior in the context of the ever changing society in Philippine context, and expressing Christian faith.

Operationalization

Apostolate- an association of persons dedicated to the propagation of a religion or a doctrine.Bandit - a criminal who attacks and steals from travelers and who is often a member of a group of criminals.Bereave- to take away (a valued or necessary possession) especially by force; to deprive of somethingCatalyst- an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action.Chaplain- a priest or other Christian religious leader who performs religious services for a military group (such as the army) or for a prison, hospital, etc.Clergy-people (such as priests) who are the leaders of a religion and who perform religious services.Colonize-to create a colony in or on (a place) : to take control of (an area) and send people to live there.Doctrine - a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief; a set of ideas or beliefs that are taught or believed to be trueEvangelize- to try to convert (a group or area) to a different religion (especially Christianity).Fervent- felt very strongly ; having or showing very strong feelings.Hostile- of or relating to an enemy; not friendly; having or showing unfriendly feelings; unpleasant or harsh.Missionary- a person who is sent to a foreign country to do religious work (such as to convince people to join a religion or to help people who are sick, poor, etc.)Pacify- to cause (someone who is angry or upset) to become calm or quiet; to cause or force (a country, a violent group of people, etc.) to become peaceful.Penance- something that you do or are given to do in order to show that you are sad or sorry about doing something wrong.Relinquish- to give up (something) : to give (something, such as power, control, or possession) to another person or group.Superficial-concerned only with what is obvious or apparent : not thorough or complete; affecting only the outer part or surface of something ;not deep or serious; lying close to the surface.Superimpose- to place or lay (something) over something else.Syncretism - the combination of different forms of belief or practice; the fusion of two or more originally different inflectional forms.Theology -the study of religious faith, practice, and experience; the study of God and God's relation to the world; a system of religious beliefs or ideas.Tribunal- a kind of court that has authority in a specific area.

References:Anderson, Gerald H. Studies in Philippine Church History. (Cornell Univ. Press, 1969). Bernard, Miguel. The Christianization of the Philippines: Problems and Perspectives. (Manila: The Fil. Book Guild, 1972)Cornelio, Jayeel. Institutional Religion and Modernity-in-Transition: Christianitys Innovations in the Philippines and Latin America. (https://www.academia.edu/152205/Institutional_Religion_and_Modernity-in- Transition_Christianity_s_Innovations_in_the_Philippines_and_Latin_America) Accessed March 30, 2015.Cortes, Rosario. Pangasinan 1572-1800. (Q.C: Ney Day Publishers, 1974)_____________, Pangasinan 1800-1901. (Q.C: Ney Day Publishers, 1990)De Torre, Joseph M. Social Morals: the Church Speaks on Society. Second Edition. (Manila: Southeast Asian Science Foundation, Inc. 1987), 67.De la Torre, Visitacion. Faith Enshrined: Churches of Pangasinan. (Manila, 1997.)Fernandez, Pablo. History of the Church in the Philippines (1521-1898). (Manila: Navotas Press, 1979)Fogg, Kevin. Demographics on Religion in Maritime Southeast Asia. (http://www.academia.edu/5966531/Demographics_on_Religion_in_Maritime_Southeast_Asia) Accessed March 16, 2015.Giordano, Pasquale T. Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1988) Jocano, Landa F. Filipino Catholicism: A Case Study of Religious Change(http://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-05-01-1967/jocano-filipino-catholicism- case-study-religious-change.pdf) Accessed March 29, 2015. Jones, Arun W. Christian missions in the American empire. Episcopalians in northern Luzon, the Philippines,19021946 (Studies in the Intercultural History of Christianity, 132.) in Jnl of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 55, No. 3, July 2004. (United Kingdom Cambridge University Press,2004) Kwantes, Anne C. Chapters in Philippine Church History. (Manila: OMF Literature Inc., 2001),Lapiz, Ed. Paano Maging Pilipininong Kristiyano: Becoming a Filipino Christian. (Makati City: Kaloob, 1997),Le Roy, James. Philippine Circa 1900: Philippine Life in Town and Country. (Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1968)MacDonald Charles J-H. Folk Christianity and Pre-Spanish Religions in the Philippines in Philippine Studies Vol. 52, No.1 Global/Local (Ateneo de Manila Univ. Press, 2004), 80. (http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/42633685?uid=2477664693&uid=2&uid=60&uid=3738824&uid=3&uid=2134&uid=70&uid=2477664683&purchase-type=none&accessType=none&sid=21105824252791&showMyJstorPss=false&seq=4&showAccess=false) Accessed on March 30, 2015Magno, Rafael. Mangaldan (1600-1898). (Dagupan: Maramba Press, 1981)Mercado, Leonardo, N. Inculturation and Filipino Theology.( Manila: Divine World Publications, 1992)Phelan, John Leddy. The Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses. 1565-1700. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1959)Rev. Tangelder. Reformed Reflections: The Winds of Change in the Roman Catholic Church 1977 - 1979 . Bacolod City. (http://www.reformedreflections.ca/other- religions/rc-winds-of-change.html) Accessed on March 29, 2015

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